Garbage grinder



W. LAMB GARBAGE GRINDER June 23, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 25, 1948 INVENTOR.

BY M1,

IIUHIalI |l||||||| June 23, 1953 w. LAMB GARBAGE GRINDER 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 25, 1948 INVENTOR. #4219 14/ Patented June 23, 1953 GARBAGE GRINDER Wade Lamb, Wayne, Mich., assignor, by mesne assignments, to National Rubber Machinery Company, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 25, 1948, Serial No. 35,103

Claims.

The present invention relates to an improved waste disposal mechanism and more particularly to an improved mechanism of the type adapted to receive and comminute waste material.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved mechanism of the above mentioned type which is simple in design, economical of manufacture and reliable and efficient in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved construction for mechanisms of the above mentioned type, which minimizes the possibility of Waste material received therein inter-. fering with the starting of the comminuting means and which includes means for readily starting the mechanism when such interference develops.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of the above mentioned type having an improved rotor construction including waste material reducing elements which automatically move to a retracted position in which they do'not project above the upper surface of the rotor when operation of the mechanism is stopped and which automatically move to their operative position after the mechanism is started.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved waste disposal mechanism, the construction of which prevents the accumulation of shreds or strands of waste material between the rotor and the housing which may tend to jam or clog the mechanism.

7 It is also an object of the invention to provide a mechanism of the above mentioned type including an improved rotor and reducing element assembly incorporating improved means for limiting the upward movement of the reducing element and preventing comminuted waste material from interfering with such movement.

Other, and in certain cases, more detailed ob- J'ects of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings throughout the several views of which like reference characters designate like parts and where- Figure 1 is a broken view in transverse section of a waste disposal mechanism embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 taken along the line 22 thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2 taken along the line 33 thereof;

Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional views of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 taken along the 75 lines 4-4 and 5-5 thereof respectively;

failed for one reason or another.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the construction illustrated in Fig. 5 taken along the line 6-6 thereof;

Fig.7 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig, 1 taken along the line 'I---'? thereof.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, the waste disposal mechanism there illustrated is adapted to be connected to an associated sink 24 or the like, having a water supply line 26, and generally comprises a drain fitting generally indicated at 28 adapted to be mounted in the outlet opening 30 of the sink 24 and including a cover 32 selectively movable between on, stop and drain positions and an electric switch 34 operated thereby, a housing generally indicated at 36 defining a chamber 36 in which waste material is received and comminuted preparatory to discharge through an outlet conduit 40, means generally indicated at 42 mounted on the housing 36 for comminuting waste material within the chamber 38, a motor 44 operatively connected to the waste comminuting means 42, an adjustable support 46 carrying the motor 44 and the housing 36, and flow responsive switch means 48 mounted in the water supply line 26 and adapted to control the operation of the motor 44.

It will be readily appreciated that waste disposal mechanisms of this type may fail to operate properly and become clogged or cause the drain passages to which their outlets are connected to become clogged if the waste disposal mechanism is operated when an insuificient quantity of water is flowing through the mechanism or when the water supply to the mechanism has Accordingly, the waste disposal mechanism of the present invention includes the above mentioned flow responsive switch mechanism 48 which functions to prevent operation of the motor 44 when the flow of water into the sink 24 through the water line 26 is less than a predetermined amount.

The remaining parts of the waste disposal mechanism comprising the housing 36 and the motor 44 are supported on an adjustable base 46 which is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. This supporting structure 46 comprises a sheet metal fabricated post I54 of rectangular cross section welded or otherwise suitably secured to a base plate [56 adapted to engage a floor or other suitable supporting surface, and a channel shaped upper supporting member I58 adapted to overlie three sides of the post 154 and move telescopical ly relative thereto. The depth of the channel I58 is slightly less than the corresponding dimension of the fabricated post I54, as best illustrated in Fig. 3, and the channel member I58 is clamped to the post I54 to prevent relative movement therebetween by straps I60 which engage the exposed side of the fabricated post I54 and are bolted to outwardly turned end portions I62 of the channel member I58. When the clamping straps I60 are loosened or removed, the channel shaped upper supporting member I58 may be adjusted relative to the post I54 by means of a screw I64 having a squared head I66 engaging a downwardly presenting seat formed in a tab I68 deformed inwardly from the web portion of the channel member I58 and reinforced by a bracket I disposed within the channel member I58 and welded to the opposite walls thereof. The screw I64 has a threaded engagement with a nut I12 welded or otherwise suitably fixed in the upper end of the post I54. During initial installation or during repair of the mechanism, the upper supporting member I58 and the housing 36 and motor 44 carried thereby may be readily adjusted relative to the post I54 simply by turning the screw I64 in the desired direction, and the member I58 may then be secured in the desired position by fastening the clamping bars I60 in place.

The housing 36 is disposed on one side of the I supporting member I58 and secured thereto at the upper end thereof by bolts I14, and the motor 44 is disposed on the opposite side of the member I58 and mounted thereon by means of a bracket I15. The housing 36 generally comprises a chute portion I16 adapted to abuttingly engage the lower end of the body 94 of the drain fitting 28 and communicate with the drain passage 96 thereof, an intermediate cylindrical housing member I18 defining the frusto-conical waste material reducing chamber 38, and a lower housing member I82 in which the discharge conduit is integrally formed, and to which the upper and intermediate housing members I16 and I18 respectively are secured by a plurality of bolts I84.

The above mentioned waste comminuting means 42 mounted in the housing 36 comprises a rotor suitably rotatably mounted in the lower housing member I82 and including a rotor body I86 supported on and keyed to a vertically disposed rotor shaft I88 extending outwardly of the lower housing member I82 through a centrally disposed cylindrical portion I90. The rotor and the rotor shaft I88 are supported on a thrust washer I82 received on a reduced portion I94 of the shaft I68 and engaging an annular downwardly presenting shoulder I96 on the shaft. The thrust washer I92 is held against movement axially of the shaft I88 away from the shoulder I96 by a snap ring I98 received in a cooperating groove 206 in the reduced portion I94 of the shaft I88. The thrust washer I92 is connected to the shaft I88 for rotation therewith by a pin 202 extending transversely through the shaft I88 and the outer ends of which are received in diametrically opposed inwardly presenting notches 204 formed in the washer I92. The thrust bearing I92 is supported in a collar member 206 received over the lower end of the shaft I88 and secured to the lower end of the downwardly projecting cylindrical portion I98 of the lower housing member E82 by screws 208.

The shaft I88 and the rotor body I86 are driven through a pulley wheel 2I0 fixed to the lower outwardly projecting end of the shaft I88, through a pulley belt 2I2 driven by a pulley wheel 2I4 secured on the output shaft 2I6 of the motor 44. The just mentioned pulley wheel 2I4 is provided with an integrally formed hand wheel 2I8 by means of which the output shaft 2I6 of the motor 44 and the rotor shaft I88 may be turned manually for the purposes above mentioned. A suitable pulley belt guard 2I9 is provided which is apertured to permit operation of the hand wheel 2 I8.

Referring to Figs. 1, 5 and 6, the rotor body I86 is formed to provide a pair of diametrically opposed recesses 220 in which are pivotally mounted movable cutter elements generally indicated .at 222 for movement in substantially radial planes of the rotor I86. Each cutter element 222 comprises a generally wedge shaped block portion 224 disposed within one of the recesses 220 with it thinner edge projecting radially inwardly of the rotor and carrying a horizontally disposed pivot pin 226 which extends outwardly of the cutter element 224 and is supported in the rotor body I86. Centrally of the cutter body 224 is a generally sector shaped upwardly projecting blade portion 228 adapted to project through an opening 230 formed in a rotor plate 232 secured to the upper surface of the rotor body I86 by a plurality of screws 234. The proportioning of the cutter element 222 and the disposition of the pivot pin 226 is such that when the rotor is stationary and the cutter elements 222 are in the position illustrated in broken lines at the right-hand side of Fig. 1, the center of gravity of each cutter element 222 is disposed radially outwardly of and below the rotor relative to the pivotal connection of the cutter element to the rotor. Upon rotation of the rotor shaft I88, it will be appreciated that the centrifugal force acting on the cutter elements 222 opposes the force of gravity holding them in the just described position and, as the speed of rotation of the rotor increases, overcomes this force of gravity and pivotally moves the cutter elements 222 upwardly into the operative position illustrated in full lines in the drawings. During this pivotal movement of the cutter elements 222, the upwardly projecting cutter blade portions 228 thereof move from a position in which their upper edge is disposed flush with the upper surface of the rotor plate 232 to the position illustrated in full lines in the drawings in which they project upwardly through the openings 230 and substantailly above the plate for cooperating in comminuting waste material disposed within the chamber 38 in a manner which will presently be described.

lhis upward pivotal movement of the cutter elements 222 is limited by the engagement of the upper surfaces of the body Portion 224, at opposite sides of the blade portion 228, with the under surface of the rotor plate 232. To keep the justmentioned upper surfaces of the body portions 224 of the cutter elements 222 free of waste material which might interfere with the cutter elements moving fully into their operative position, a plurality of apertures 236 are provided in the rotor plate 232 spaced along opposite sides of the openings 230 to permit water to flow through these apertures and wash off the upper surfaces of the cutter element body portions 224.

The movable cutter elements 222 cooperate with stationary cutter plates 238 which are mounted on the intermediate housing member I18. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, three generally vertically disposed stationary cutter plates 238 are equally spaced about the frusto-conical chamber 38 and are secured to the inner wall of the intermediate housing member I18 by a plurality of screws 240, the heads of which are countersunk and disposed flush with the inner surface of the cutter plates 23B and the outer ends of which project outwardly through the housing member I18 and receive cooperating nuts 242. Each stationary cutter plate 238 has an inclined cutting edge 244 which cooperates with the rotor to effect a shredding of the waste material.

During the operation of the waste disposal mechanism, the waste material is thrown radially outwardly by the action of the rotor and is broken up and ground up by the cooperation of the movable blades 222 carried by the rotor and the stationary cutter .plates 238 fixed on the housing I18. The waste material is ground and reduced in this manner until it is so finely divided that it may pass between the outer edge of the rotor plate 232 and the adjacent inner wall of the intermediate housing member I18. It will thus be appreciated that it is this spacing between the outer periphery of the rotor plate and the inner wall of the housing member which determines the degree to which the waste material must be ground before it can pass from the waste disposal mechanism through the discharge conduit 40. Because this spacing between the rotor plate 232 and the adjacent wall of the housing member H8 is preferably less than the thickness of the stationary cutter plates 238, these cutter plates 238 are disposed above but in close proximity to the upper surface of the rotor plate 232. For cutting off shredded waste material which may hang vertically downwardly from the cutting edge of the stationary cutter plates 238 between the rotor plate 232 and the housing I18, the rotor plate 232 is provided with radially outwardly extending projecting portions-246, best illustrated in Fig. 5, which extend substantially across the above mentioned space normally between the outer periphery of the rotor plate 232 and the adjacent housing wall through which the comminuted material passes, and have a minimum working clearance with the inner wall of the housing member I18. As these projections 246 pass under the stationary cutter plates 238 in close proximity thereto, they clip off any shreds hanging between the housing wall and the rotor.

It will also be appreciated that for best results the working clearance between the arcuate outer edge of the sector shaped cutter blade 226 of the movable cutter element 222 and the inner face of the stationary cutter plate 238 must be kept to a minimum.

Considering now, briefly, the operation of the above described waste disposal mechanism, the cover 32 is turned to the stop position and removed from the drain fitting 28 permitting waste material to be dropped into the chamber 38 through the drain passage 96. The cover 32 is then replaced and turned to the on position either before or after the water faucet controlling the water supply line 26 is opened to provide a sufiicient supply of water. The movable cutter elements 222 are at this time in the lowered or inoperative position illustrated in broken lines at the right-hand side of Fig. 1 and described above, in which position they do not engage with or interfere with the waste material within the chamber 38 and, accordingly, a minimum torque is required to start the rotor. As the rotor comes up to speed, the pivotally mounted cutter elements 222 carried thereby swing up to the operative position illustrated in full lines in the drawings and remain in this operative position in which they cooperate with the stationary cutter plates 233 in the comminuting of the waste material within the chamber 38, either until the operation is completed and the control cover 32 is turned to the stop position or until the water fiow in the line 26 fallsbelow the predetermined desired amount, stopping the motor 44.

Although only one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described in detail herein, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

I 1. In a waste disposal mechanism, means defining a chamber for comminuting waste material, means for comminuting waste material within said chamber including a rotor upon which the waste material is supported during its reduction, said rotor having a substantially radially extending opening in its upper surface and a cutter element mounted for pivotal movement through said opening between a first position in which the upper surface of said element is substantially flush with the upper surface of said rotor and a second position in which said element projects above the upper surface of said rotor for reducing said waste material, said element being mounted for pivotal movement in a substantially radial plane of said rotor about an axis passing through said element at a point radially inwardly of said rotor relative to the center of gravity of said element, and above said center of gravity the portion of said element which passes through such opening being of substantially the same shape and size as such opening.

2. In a waste disposal mechanism, a chamber for comminuting waste material, a rotor in said chamber, openings in the upper surface of said rotor, cutter elements including block portions disposed under said openings, said cutter elements being pivoted at a point generally radially inwardly of said rotor relative to the center of gravity of said elements, and cutter blades projecting upwardly on said elements, said cutter blades having upper surfaces which are substantially flush with the upper surface of said rotor in a first position of said elements and which project above the surface of the rotor for reducing waste material in a second position, said blades further being of substantially the same shape and size as said openings.

3. In a waste disposal mechanism, a chamber for comminuting waste material, a rotor in said chamber presenting a substantially smooth upper face upon which such waste material is supported and provided with a generally radially extending opening, at least one general1y radially extending cutter element in such opening carried by said rotor for rotation therewith and pivotally connected to said rotor for swinging movement, under the influence of centrifugal force, and responsive to rotation of said rotor, from a position wherein one generally radially extending edge of said element is substantially flush with the upper face of said rotor and another edge of said element extends downwardly from a point adjacent the periphery of said rotor to a position wherein such one edge projects upwardly from said rotor and such another edge also projects upwardly from said rotor and faces the wall of said chamber, said element in its last-mentioned position cons it ti a wardly pro ec ng-obs ssi na- 9.14 said rotor for inducing rotation of the waste {narterial and said another edge constituting a cutting edge which cooperates with the wall of said chamber to reduce the waste material, said elee ment being mounted for pivotal movement in a substantially radial plane of said rotor aboutan axis passing through said element at a po nt radially inwardly of said rotor relative to the center of gravity of said element, and means for rotating said rotor.

4 The mechanism of claim 3 wherein such opening in said rotor terminates short of the per ph r of sa r or- 5. The mechanism of claim 3 wherein said chamber is of generally cylindrical form and such another edge of said element is of arcuate form of radius struck from the pivot of said element, such radius being less than that of said chamber whereby as said element swings to the last-, mentioned position such another edge is moving mayhem-ti e wall f a d ch m e to ve d wedging of waste material between such another e nd the ll of sa emr- WADE LAMB.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,968,648 Kendall July 31, 1934 2,185,037 Powers Dec. 26, 1939 2,197,473 Jackson et a1. Apr. 16, 1940 2,220,729 Powers Nov, 5', 1940 2,244,373 Powers June 3, 1941 2,244,402 Powers June 3, 1941 2,322,058 Powers June 15, 1943 2,428,420 Green Oct. 7, 1947 2,440,051 Lind et a1. Apr. 20, 1948 2,442,812 Jordan June 8, 1948 2,482,124 Powers Sept. 20, 1949 2,482,125 Powers Sept. 20, 1949 

